GMZ Reader Special: The Making of Andrew Jackson

Hey Go Media Zinesters, Jeff Finley here. If you didn’t know, I actually spent all of August working on new Arsenal and Zine stuff exclusively. To be specific, I was working on some really rad tutorials. One of which you folks read last week about how I created the artwork for my band’s song “24th of January.”

Learn to Create This Exact Design

Well I’m writing to tell you about my latest tutorial which I think you will really like. This time it’s of the premium video variety, downloadable from the Arsenal for only $49.99. If you keep reading, you’ll see a $10 discount exclusively for GoMediaZine readers! It’s a 2.3-hour complete walkthrough of my entire design process from start to finish. If you liked the artwork I’ve been doing for Parachute Journalists lately, then you’re going to love this tutorial. It’s for our newest song called Andrew Jackson.

Video Tutorial Preview

The song itself was inspired by the education (or lack thereof) in schools about the dark side of former U.S. President Andrew Jackson. He’s well known for his Trail of Tears where he marched thousands of Native Americans out of their homeland which led to lots of disease and death. The song is a satire and is a little different than our other songs because it’s sung by our bass player Jeff Steinwachs. It’s catchy and and a little rough around the edges, which is just how we like it.

Listen to the song

The artwork I created for the song took inspiration from the Trail of Tears. That’s where the tear drop shape comes from and in the video I described my design and color choices in more detail. The typography was very 1800s inspired and you’ll see how easy it is to create the type treatment in Illustrator. I do some hacking with some of Illustrator’s built-in toolset to get my desired results. You’ll see!

Even if you’re an experienced designer curious about how a fellow designer works, there are things you can take away from this video.

Topics Covered in the Tutorial

Sketching and The Importance of Concept

Creating a Type Treatment From Scratch

Typography Tricks and Shortcuts

Using Photoshop and Illustrator Together

Authentic Vintage and Aging Tricks

Retro Lighting Techniques

Creative Usage of Arsenal Vectors & Textures

Wacom Tablet Illustration and Line Art

Combining Illustrations and Photos

Graphic Design Composition and Layout

GMZ Reader Discount

The tutorial normally costs $49.99 but Zine readers get it for $39.99 throughout the rest of September. Just enter the coupon code “ajtutgmz” at checkout.

Coupon Code: ajtutgmz

I am excited to see what you guys come up with after watching some of the techniques I use. I think the stuff I teach you is versatile enough for many different applications. Let me know what you think!

I'm a partner at Go Media, a Cleveland web design, branding, and design studio. I started Weapons of Mass Creation Fest and wrote the book Thread's Not Dead, teaching artists and designers how to start a clothing company. I'm also writing a new book called Wake Up: The Morning Routine That Will Change Your Life